The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 12, 2016
Filed:
May. 28, 2014
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Xikun Wang, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Jie Liu, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Anchuan Wang, San Jose, CA (US);
Nitin K. Ingle, San Jose, CA (US);
Jeffrey W. Anthis, San Jose, CA (US);
Benjamin Schmiege, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
Methods are described herein for etching metal films which are difficult to volatize. The methods include exposing a metal film to a chlorine-containing precursor (e.g. Cl). Chlorine is then removed from the substrate processing region. A carbon-and-nitrogen-containing precursor (e.g. TMEDA) is delivered to the substrate processing region to form volatile metal complexes which desorb from the surface of the metal film. The methods presented remove metal while very slowly removing the other exposed materials. A thin metal oxide layer may be present on the surface of the metal layer, in which case a local plasma from hydrogen may be used to remove the oxygen or amorphize the near surface region, which has been found to increase the overall etch rate.